ILLUMINATE Honors Global Visionary Lynne Twist

The ILLUMINATE Film Festival, taking place May 30 - June 3, is pleased to announce that it will be honoring author and humanitarian Lynne Twist with the 2018 Conscious Visionary Award. From working with Mother Teresa in Calcutta to the refugee camps in Ethiopia and the threatened rainforests of the Amazon, as well as guiding the philanthropy of some of the world's wealthiest families, Twist's on-the-ground work has brought her a deep understanding of people's relationship with money. Her breadth of knowledge and experience has led her to profound insights about the social tapestry of the world and the historical landscape of the times we are living in. Author of The Soul of Money, Twist is a recognized global visionary committed to ending world hunger, supporting social justice and environmental sustainability, and reframing our society's relationship with money.

"We're proud to recognize Lynne Twist," says ILLUMINATE Executive Director Danette Wolpert, "for her relentless devotion to transforming communities, breaking the victim paradigm, and helping us all to reclaim our inner wealth. She has chosen to share her message through the medium of film, contributing to the rising movement in conscious cinema."

For more than 40 years, Lynne Twist has been committed to alleviating poverty, ending world hunger and supporting social justice and environmental sustainability. A teacher by training, her desire to contribute to others moved beyond the classroom and onto the world stage when she became the chief fundraising officer for The Hunger Project, raising hundreds of millions of dollars in the course of her tenure.

In 1996, with her husband, Bill, she co-founded The Pachamama Alliance - a social profit (nonprofit) organization whose mission is to empower indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest to preserve their lands and culture and, using insights gained from that work, to educate and inspire individuals everywhere to bring forth a thriving, just and sustainable world.

Founder of the Soul of Money Institute, Twist has worked with over 100,000 people in 50 countries in board retreats, workshops, keynote presentations and one-on-one coaching in the areas of fundraising with integrity, conscious philanthropy, strategic visioning and creating a healthy relationship with money. Her clients include Nobel Women's Initiative, Amnesty International, The Red Cross, The Sierra Club, Harvard University and many more.

She travels the world giving keynote presentations and workshops for conferences including: United Nations Beijing Women's Conference, Nobel Women's Conference on Sexual Violence, State of the World Forum Conference, Alliance for a New Humanity Conference with Deepak Chopra, Synthesis Dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Governor's Conference on California Women, among others.

In addition, she has co-presented and shared the stage with some of today's most influential thought leaders including Oprah Winfrey, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra, Roshi Joan Halifax and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Marianne Williamson and more.

On Thursday May 31, Twist will take part in ILLUMINATE'S acclaimed Luminary Living Room Series at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Join festival attendees on an exploration to reclaim the wealth of our inner resources, bringing a new level of consciousness to the way money impacts our lives and our society. Following this event, she will be presented with the third annual Conscious Visionary Award. Tickets for this event are extremely limited.

The 2018 ILLUMINATE Film Festival takes place May 30 - June 3, 2018 at the Sedona Performing Arts Center and Mary D. Fisher Theatre. For more information, visit www.illuminatefilmfestival.com.

Sponsors of the 5th annual ILLUMINATE Film Festival include: Sedona Chamber of Commerce, Natural Action Technologies, Chocolatree Organic Oasis, El Rincon, Conscious Life News, The Lodge at Sedona and Sedona Real Inn & Suites.

ILLUMINATE Film Festival, a 501(c)3 sponsored organization, is the world's premier film festival for conscious cinema. For more information, visit www.illuminatefilmfestival.com or call 928-421-1108.